the change.

so.

if you are a friend of mine of facebook - and let's be honest, since going private, if you're reading this you probably are.... then you know.

the change was 'revealed' last night. 

for all of social media to see.

and later on this week, it will be revealed for all of texas to see.

it's weird. definitely weird.

to see it all coming to life.

but, at the same time, totally refreshing. to hang it all out there for everyone to see. to be an open book. to stop talking about what's wrong with our country, our state, and start doing something about it.

yup. refreshing is the right word.

i've been dying to share with you. how this all came about. what my thoughts are. what the decision process was like. all the ins and outs to it.

and i will.

but today i'm going to soak my babies in. and our new home.

and try to still my heart. {before the rangers play, of course!}

God is faithful, y'all.

Oh. So. Faithful.

and although there is going to be a long road ahead for my precious family, the hubbs and i know that the Lord has called us to this journey.

and there is peace.

so today, i'm going to leave you with this song.

a precious hymmn that has comforted my soul in the past two months.

random.

hi.

i'm blogging from our last day of vacation. where i should be packing & finishing up getting ready, but i find myself with an itty bitty sound asleep & everyone else out of the condo, so i'm sitting down to write.

oh, how i've missed writing. i find it to be therapeutic, mostly.

and i've found that lately, i've been trying to censor myself from being entirely open on this blog. and i don't like that. i AM an open book. it's just me. i like to tell it like it is in my life. the good, the bad, the funny & the ugly.

hence, the reason for turning it private.

but today, i'm feeling open.

so here i am.

we've been on vacation for a week. we brought tropical storm LEE into town with us. yesterday was our first day of beautiful sunshine. and funnily enough, it was cool & crisp outside. just like fall.

i heart fall. especially after a very long & very very hot summer.

i love the smells of fall. queso, football, texas chilli {YUM. that WILL be on my menu next week}, the state fair, pumpkin patch hay, crisp dewey morning walks, fire places & smores.

yay! i can't wait.

oh - and crotons. i LOVE crotons. can't wait to put one on my front porch next to a small pumpkin patch that i have planned in my mind this year.

who knows if that will ACTUALLY happen. right? right.

********************************************************************************

the good thing about being stuck in a tropical storm is the laziness of it all.

reading. watching football. eating. coloring in a coloring book for what seems like the first time in forever. napping. oh - and more eating.

i feel like it makes us slow down. when we SO need to slow down.

so for that i'm super thankful.

********************************************************************************

in the spirit of being random, let me catch up on some pictures from before our vacay.

recently, i've been so incredibly thankful for my sweet girlfriends. i'm blessed to have them. in every way, they are a very specific answer to prayer. each of them individually & collectively as a whole. they pray for me, encourage me, challenge me & speak truth in love. they send me scripture at the very moment i need it. they send notes in the mail. they send sweet nothing texts that speak volumes to me about their character & the kinds of friends they are.

i love them.

the friday before vacation though, one of these dear friends had a birthday party for her daughter.

a luau. {is that even how you spell it?}

we had a lot of fun, ate way too many cupcakes & made a huge mess between the itty bitties & the 'big' kids.

but that's the point of a birthday party, right?

i so often feel sad for b. when he's the only boy of the big kids. but he eats. it. up. can you tell?

thanks, harper! we had fun celebrating you, sweet girl.

********************************************************************************

so there it is. my random thoughts this morning. and little bit of procrastination on my part.

oh - and before i leave, i want to share an awesome & powerful excerpt of scripture that i've been clinging to these past few days. the Lord has been teaching me more than my fair share lately - some i'm very thankful for - and some i want to turn my eyes from because He is showing me {very clearly, i might add} my ugly side. yuck. 

but i love this. i rest in this. {or i try to}. and i hope you will, too, today.

"do you not know? have you not heard? the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does NOT become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. though youths grow weary & tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, the will run & not get tired, they will walk & not become weary."

isaiah 40:28-31

i don't know about you, but there are many days as a wife, a mommy, a friend that i feel like i cannot do it. i don't have the strength to do what i need to do. or be who i want to be. 

but HE does.

that's the beauty of it. that's the point.

that if we are going to get through the day in one piece, as a whole, and still have some room left over for our husbands and ourselves, it will be a miracle. and it will be HIS strength, not ours. 

our lives are to POINT to Him. 

that's a challenge for me. a huge one. 

it's one that i'll be wrestling with for the rest of my life. but i'm ready. 

and i'm done with my sermon for today.

love you all for sticking with me & reading until the end. 

happy wednesday.

*****************************************************************************

PS - remember that i'm turning this blog to private on monday, september 12. please email me or leave me a comment below with your email address if you want to be added to the list! {disregard if you've already let me know!}

so....

i did not finish my HUGE project life post that i talked about yesterday.

boo.

due to a fun & lengthy phone conversation with my long distance, long lost friend during nap time.

love her. thankful for her sweet prayers for me & my family. and her ability to speak truth when i need to hear it.

so thankful for my sweet friends this week. i've needed every single one of them and am feeling beyond undeserving of them all. you know who you are. and i love you!

so......

hopefully i can get my post done during nap time. maybe. maybe not. maybe it will wait until monday. or tuesday. but the truth is that it doesn't really matter.

i've been learning recently how to prioritize. and to not worry about tomorrow. because today has enough worries of its own.

ain't that the truth?

i've been talking with the Lord a LOT this week. experiencing His presence & peace more than i ever have in my life. i'm thankful that our God is faithful. and true. and all knowing. and our provider. i find peace in the fact that He knows what is going to happen this afternoon. next week. in six months. He knows. He knows what decisions we will make, what mistakes will happen & what tragedies may occur.

and He uses it for HIS glory. all of it.

every mistake. every decision. every tragedy.

He promises this.

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." - romans 8:26-28, the message.

don't you find comfort in that? i read that this morning and tears started pouring out of my eyes. i felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders.

we may never know what the 'good' is that He promises.

but He does.

and that is all that matters. or it should be, anyway.

either way.

i pray that you experience this peace today. thank you for letting me share my faith with you today.

happy friday!!

making sense of tragedy.

Jesus said "...He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted..." {luke 4:18}

i don't know about you, but several people, that i would consider aquaintances, have experienced great loss over the past few weeks. 

it's heartbreaking. to read about it and to somewhat feel a little bit of their pain. 

to think about losing one of my sweet littles. to cancer. 

it's overwhelming. 

but yesterday, as i was driving back to town, i received a text message from a sweet friend telling me of a great loss that her family experienced over the weekend. a senseless tragedy in the form of a horrible car accident. and although i do not know this part of her family personally, i have come to love them through the extension of my dear friend. 

and let me just tell you, it was more than i could take. 

it felt paralyzing. for me, who didn't even know the immediate family personally, it all just hit home. 

my heart is still aching for them even as i type this. 

i was away from all of my family when i received the message. away from jeff and my littles. 

i had two hours to ask how our dear heavenly Father could allow such things to happen. so suddenly. without any warning. and to allow a father to outlive a child. it just seems cruel.

but as i was fighting back tears, i received another text from my dear friend. it read:

"such an awful tragedy. indescribable. and has been so hard to see everyone mourning. but god is good and we know He is loving on her as we speak."

amazing. it brings tears to my eyes even still.

she's right.

God. is. good. 

even in the midst of such senseless and awful tragedy.

the awful fact is that we live in a fallen world. and tragedy happens. 

but it's all a means to an end, really. because it is in this devestating tragedy that we cling to our sweet Jesus. and it's in the tragedy that we realize the hope we have in heaven. in seeing this precious little girl again and meeting our Lord face to face. 

for me, though, what can be paralyzing is that this meeting with our Lord could take place any second. for us, or for any of our dear loved ones. this is what hits in the depth of my soul and can, if i'm not careful, absolutely overwhelm me with grief & anxiety. 

but as i have been praying for this sweet family today, our faithful God has reminded me over and over how this is a sin. for me to worry & to be anxious for my own loved ones is a sin. for jesus said "and who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life?" {matthew 6:27}

whoa. 

powerful message, right?

my dear friend was {and is} right. GOD IS GOOD. and, as she put it in her first message to me, He has a PERFECT plan. much more perfect that mine every could be. HE knows when my time is up. when my dear husband's time is up. when my precious, precious littles' times will be up. and who am i to worry about when that time will be or how it will come? worrying about it does not and will not change it. praying about it will draw me closer to him and strengthen my trust that my loved ones are in HIS hands, not mine. and that is so much better. 

"but seek first HIS kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. so do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. each day has enough trouble of its own." matthew 6:33-34

this will be my focus in raising and loving on my children. this has to be my focus. because no matter how hard i try, i do not have control. 

i love the lord.

i love this sweet family. 

and i pray that all of those who have experienced this tragedy, and others like it, would find the perfect peace that only comes from trusting in the one true living God.

mommas.

as i mentioned previously, the hubbs was out of town for a good part of last week. i was ready for mother's day, to say the least. :)

when he arrived home on friday night, i was elated.

most importantly, i got see my dear & precious husband and hug his neck... but also, because he came bearing gifts.

good gifts.

mother's day gifts.

so... this is project life. the kit version. not the homemade version i was trying to make.

when he handed it to me, his first words were "i have no idea what this is, but only that you haven't stopped talking about it."

now i have no excuses to stay behind. i kept telling him {and my project life partner in crime, terri} that i'd be doing so much better if i had the actual kit. it would take so much less time {which is the whole point of un-scrapbooking}. so. i hope to have some layouts for you tomorrow.

i've almost finished march & april. woohoo. i think my project life might just start with march. maybe i'll just have one layout for january & one for february. hmmm.... i have to truly get over the "week in the life" thing. but it's much harder for me to settle for the reality of my project and not what i could make it to be. does that make sense? i wrestle with "oh, let me do this... and make this... oh, this would be cool..." and "i only have time for this.... this is more realistic...." anyone else who relates?

yeah.

are you doing a project life? please share if you are! pretty pretty please! i love seeing new ideas and concepts! it helps me get out of my box!

anyway.... onto the real post....

momma's day.

i was blessed with a beyond wonderful momma. she is as godly, giving, selfless, creative and beautiful as a woman can get. she has taught me everything i know about being a momma to my precious littles {and a wife to my husband}. she's laid back {most of the time} & loves to play games {although my competitve spirit comes from my dad}. she's ambitious & loyal. i love her to pieces.

the hubbs was also blessed with a precious momma. a wise, godly woman who is prayerful in everything she does and treasures her family above all else on this earth. she is a wonderful cook {a lot for me to live up to, i might add} and has brought up two beautiful boys who love the lord with everything they are. she has been through so much this last year and it's been an honor for jeff & i to be able to walk with it through her - and watch her lean on our lord for every last bit of strength. i admire her and love her so very much.

being a momma. and to two itty bitties...

hmm..... let's try to put what that means into words...

it's impossible. right?

my heart swells when i think of my precious little ones. it's the hardest thing & the best thing i've ever done. it's the proudest & most fearful i've ever been. it's the reason i put a smile on my face when i don't feel like it & the reason i pray so often. it's the greatest joy... but i can't be a great momma by myself.

it takes the example set by my momma & my momma-in-love, the prayers of my momma friends, the encouragement of the hubbs, and, above all else, the strength from our ever-faithful lord to make me a great momma.

and, let's be honest here, i fail at it.

a lot.

i mean, every. single. day i fail.

but isn't that what's so great about our father's grace?! it covers us... HE is bigger than all of my failures as a mom. HE is bigger than the days that seem to go on without end... and HE is bigger than the moment i lose it in the car while both littles are screaming and throwing things. {okay - only one of them is doing that.} HIS forgiveness is the only way i can get through this season of motherhood.

and not only am i grateful for HIS blood that covered my sins... but i'm also grateful that HIS blood is big enough to cover my childrens' sins.

my greatest prayer as a momma - on momma's day - is that my children will know this same grace & forgiveness as children, as i do as a mom, one day. and that i will perhaps be just a small part of that process.

my momma sent me a quote yesterday.

"a baby makes love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, & the future worth living for."

doesn't that sum it right up?

 

on easter.

HE is my shepherd.

HE is the restorer of my soul.

and HE is alive!!!

{PS - click here if you want to download this print}

eggstravaganza.

the last few weeks have been nothing less than a whirlwind.

every single time i think i'm finally getting 'it' together, i'm not. 

but then i think - who really has it together? anyone? anyone?

like i've said before - i'm in a rut. a big one. as in - the longest one i can remember. 

don't get me wrong. it's all my doing. at first, it started with being tired with a newborn. understandably, for sure! but then, that became an excuse. an excuse to not get things done.  an excuse to be irritable. or lazy. or 'blue'. 

and now - it's gone on for so long - that my heart is hard. and that is. not. good.

but the positive thing is - that i know i'm in it. i'm acknowledging it. and i'm deciding to push forward.

i know what i need to do. i know the steps i need to take. but somehow, for some reason, i have not been able to put one foot in front of the other to take the first step.

but today. i did.

i went for a jog/walk. 

i spent some much needed time with the lord.

i got some laundry done.

and i started on this project for lil' miss's easter bucket.

 i have lots and lots of thoughts on this topic. but i must get them all sorted out before i even begin to elaborate.  for now - my prayer is that i would find some consistency in my own life. that i would carve out some time to take care of my relationship with my Lord first - and in doing so, that i would allow HIM to pour into me so that i could pour out to others. 

how can i expect to pour out - or keep going at this rate - if i'm not giving HIM a chance to pour in??? 

yeah. that's what i thought. it's impossible. 

anyway - like i said - more thoughts later.

for now - fun stuff!!!

************************************************************************

saturday, prestonwood had an easter eggstravaganza. 

j. was out of town. {more on that later....}

so i flew solo for the day. with both littles.

luckily - joanna was in the same boat. so we tag-teamed it!

i must say that i was slightly concerned surprised about the number of pink eggs that ended up in b's basket.

but looking at this picture - i only see pink eggs! :)

although i know that easter is about waaaay more than eggs and bunnies, it is fun to hunt for eggs. and see b's sweet little serious face while doing so!

lil' miss takes a turn.

last sunday we dedicated our sweet baby girl at church. 

i love the 'symbolism' of dedicating your child to the lord that our church encourages, however it is a big production, isn't it? don't get me wrong. i didn't think twice about doing it. of course we were going to... and of course we labored over her outfit & matching bow & matching tights & matching shoes. of course.

when i talk about prodcution, this is what i mean: 

your child will have a blow out two minutes before you go on. you will then start sweating as you try to change her {him} & your hair will eventually look like a fro. of course you brought a back up outfit, but it's not near as cute - so even if a little reminensce of the blow out are left, if it doesn't show, doesn't smell & can be 'wiped over' then you won't change them. you won't. you will argue with your husband. about changing the blow out, how to hold the child, moving their bow & paying attention. {i don't speak from experience, of course.} next, your child will be all smiles as you wait to enter. you'll think it's going great. until you get to the pastor. you can feel her {or him} tense up and as soon as you line up in a row, sure enough - here come the tears. and the wailing. oh- the wailing. all while the pastor begins to pray over your children. you can't help but laugh. {and breathe a sigh of relief as you exit the sanctuary.} 

regardless. our little muffin looked super cute. and it was a blessing to dedicate her {formally} to our sweet lord. 

of course, none of those things listed above happened to us, i'm just telling you how other families do it. {yeah, right!}

"Teach Charlotte Your way, O Lord; {that} she will walk in Your truth; unite her heart to fear Your name. {that} she will praise You, O Lord my God, with all her heart, and {that} she will glorify Your name forevermore." --Psalm 86:11-12 

{edited to become my prayer for her.}

follow up.

first of all:

thank you so much to those of you who commented on my long & dreary post or sent me emails, texts, phoned, etc. you are such a blessing. i didn't even know i needed encouragement. but apparently i did. it did WONDERS for the soul. even to hear that my words were encouraging to some of you encouraged me. i had no idea that post could be ANYTHING but depressing. but i guess that's how the LORD works, huh?

secondly: 

i want to clarify {since a few people asked} that this 'wilderness' or whatever you want to call it is NOT at all like the post partum i experienced with brady. i can safely say that this isn't hormones. {or at least 90% of it isn't}. it's just a 'funk'. but not lonely and dark like the post partum was. i can't exactly describe the difference but it is different. {but - if you are experiencing post partum at all and need to talk, i have a bit of experience with it. tiny, but some. just know that it's normal!}

third: 

GOD IS FAITHFUL. after i finally said my feelings out loud, GOD has blessed me in so many ways. for starters, the very next day was sunny & beautiful. i needed fresh air. {didn't we all?} but i really needed it. i pulled up our flower beds. b. played outside.

it. was. wonderful.

then the hubbs surprised me with a weekend getaway toward the end of february. so excited. {not to mention that it knocks something off of my thirty things list. yaya!}

and then i got the nice {but firm} kick in the pants on sunday night that i needed. it was not what i wanted. but it was DEFINITELY what i needed. a little chastening goes a long way. it does not feel good when it's happening but it is definitely worth it in the end. {not that i'm at the end. i'm NOT.}

so. i've started putting one foot in front of the other to get things in order around here. and it's amazing how the LORD has multiplied my time. please know that i recognize that this is NOT my own strength pullling me through this. it's not. it can't be. it's HIS.

i'm praying that i glorify the LORD with my time.

and i already feel better. i'm a work in progess.

but, i guess we all are though, right?

life as i know it.

****BE FOREWARNED: THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A DOWN & DIRTY POST, BUT SOME OF YOU HAVE ASKED.....SO I BASICALLY JUST SPILLED MY GUTS! IF YOU MAKE IT TO THE END, YOU'RE MY HERO!****

a few of you may have noticed {and have told me so} that i have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus.

hmmm. yes.

it wasn't intentional. i promise.

it just sort of....well....it just sort of happened.

i used to love blogging. i used to love telling about our messy and crazy and beautiful life.

it may just be that it's gotten more messy and crazy than beautiful & when i do find a moment to myself {ahem... there are few} that i literally fall down with my 5th, 6th or 7th cup of coffee for the day and act like a vegetable in front of the television.

ha. can you relate?

no energy. none. no passion for anything. none.

it turns out that my motto of slowing down & enjoying the holidays each & every moment of them has turned into not speeding back up. at. all.

to be quite honest... it's turned into some awful sort of boredom coupled with an ungodly attitude of apathy.

if you're a woman {99.9% of those reading this} then you know that sometimes we can go through what the hubbs likes to call a "funk". i'm not even talking about that certain visitor that comes once a month for a day or two here or there. i'm talking about the kind that comes  - perhaps once a year, or once every two years, or perhaps even once in your lifetime - when you question what you're doing in this life. where you're going. who you're glorifying. how you're treating those around you. how you're being perceived. how you spend your time. how you organize your home. how you KEEP your home. and on and on and on...... well. i'm there.

so...... i haven't blogged.
 
i really don't want to paint a picture that we have it all together. even by saying i don't have it together i don't want to appear that i want you to feel sorry for me for not having it together.... and on and on.

i haven't been able to put my finger on where my 'funk' is going.

at first i thought that i was just tired. {because of the newborn, right?} but then she started to sleep 8+ hours at night. so i lost that excuse. and then i thought it was that i haven't been able to find a routine. sometimes i cannot even get myself to the grocery store except to buy diapers & milk. {and maybe a candy bar}.  but i'm kind of in a forced routine now anyway so i've decided that's not it.

but then. i forced myself to go to our first bible study on wednesday. i normally LOVE bible study & here i was going back to the group i'd taken a semester off from and i was so excited. but come wednesday morning, i literally had to drag myself there.

and i'm so glad i did.

we went around our table and we were asked to say one thing that we were really excited about this year. a goal or a season, etc. remember - these are all some of my dearest friends. and so they went. 

some are training for a race. some are taking continuing ed class. one sweet girl is going through the process of adoption {while already having 3 of her own!}. when they got to me i simply blurted out: 


"right now, i'm just trying to make it through the day."


wow. it brings tears to my eyes even now as i write it down.


i wanted to scream after i said it "i don't want to live life this way!" and more than that i really don't want to teach my kids to live life this way!!!! seriously! it makes me so mad AT MYSELF when a day comes and goes and there is absolutely nothing to show for it. ugh. ugh. and more ugh.


so.... as i was chewing on that thought, our women's minister came and spoke. 


she's amazing. if you haven't ever heard her, she'll having you rolling on the ground crying from laughing so hard and then the next second she'll "land the plane" and have tears rolling down your face from a heavy heart of conviction from the Holy Spirit Himself. wow. love.her.


anyway..... {as this post gets longer & longer....} to loosely quote her, she said: "as a wife & a mom, we spend the bulk of our time doing things that only GOD will appreciate or even notice."

wow. what.a.blow.

can i get an "amen!"??

so the thought occured to me. who am i living my life for? for earthly praise or for eternal praise? to glorify myself & even my family or to glorify GOD ALMIGHTY?

where am i finding JOY? remember... God never promises happiness, although i don't think He wants us to be UNhappy. maybe just a bit uncomfortable. for a season. maybe even a LONG season. {which this is turning out to be longer than i thought or wanted it to be....}

so. the moral of the story? i. am. here. WITHOU all the answers. we are alive & everyone is healthy. i'm very thankful, although it might not seem like it after all of that wordiness. i've been taking pictures here & there of our journey the past few weeks but not as many as i'd like. PLUS i have to clean off my computer before i can even attempt to load them. so. this is it.

if i may, let me end with this.

yes, i'm not in a season in my mind that i like right now... i have no idea why or how i even got here. i can't just 'snap out of it', nor do i think the LORD wants us to just mask over our seasons like this and move on... because in this season, i need HIM all the more. and i think that's the point, isn't it? if we were comfortable all.the.time then we wouldn't need Him. yearn for Him. cry out to Him.

so, as i continue on and accept this 'wilderness' as it is and try to learn from it instead of fight against, i will cling to His words.

"summing it all up, friends, i'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious --- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.  put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. do that, and GOD, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." philippians 4:8-9, the message

***i promise a fun post. almost immediately. so please stay tuned. i'm not always debbie downer right now!***

happy homemaker challenge.

i've been debating posting this for a long time. but it's one of those things that i keep have a nagging {seemingly from the Lord} to do - so i'm going to give up the fight.

i just don't want anyone to think that i think i have this down. because i don't. that's why it has hit so hard at home with me. i have so much to work on. as a wife. a mother. a friend. it's overwhelming at times... and if you read this with a hard heart {like i did the first time} it's REALLY going to feel overwhelming.

but i encourage you to say a little prayer before you read it. {or say a prayer after you read and then come back to it and read it again :) } ask the Holy Spirit to move you to conviction where you need convicting and encouragement where you need encouraging.

then make your own list. {my list is this list minus one or two things and adding one or two things... one is not complaining or arguing - especially in front of brady}.

our challenge {in my women's bible study} was to pick one of these things to work on each week. the first week, mine was number 10. this week mine is number 11. my hope is to post an update each week with my experience - good & bad - with my challenge. if you have any suggestions, tips, etc. on ANY of these things - please pass them my way! we can all use a bit of tangible encouragement now and again, correct?

on with the excerpt:

"do you cherish your home? is it 'home sweet home' to you? when you are away do you yearn for it? is your heart truly centered in your home? are the place and the people there more important to you than anyone or anything else?

when i responded to God's call to homemaking and to questions like these so many years ago, i wrote out an 'i will' list about my home sweet home. i called my covenant with God "the heart of a homemaker'. you'll notice that it touches on much of what you've read so far.

1. i will get up before my family in order to prepare myself spiritually and physically.
2. i will prepare breakfast for my family and sit with them while they eat.
3. i will work diligently to send every member of my family off in a good mood.
4. i will consult my husband every day to see if there is anything special he wants me to do for him.
5. i will keep a neat and orderly home.
6. i will respond positively.
7. i will seek to meet my husband's needs.
8. i will put my husband before my children.
9. i will personally meet & greet each family member as he or she returns home.
10. i will be predicitably happy.
11. i will prepare special, good food for my family.
12. i will make dinner a special time.
13. i will grow daily in the areas of the Lord, marriage, family & homemaking.

is yours the heart of a homemaker? for help, ask God for his transforming touch. as he empowers you to obery, he will give you joy at the task to which he calls you and enhance the beauty of the tapestry you are weaving."

~chapter 16, "a woman after God's own heart" by elizabeth george.